News and Events -----------

On Tuesday 28 May the Expat Welcome Desk is organising a free webinar in English focusing on the what, why, how and where of voting in your local (commune/ gemeente) election. The free webinar kicks off at 12 noon.

The upcoming October elections bring another chance for all Belgians (and most international residents) to elect representatives to their local commune/gemeente.

As the BBCA has already highlighted most non-Belgians have the right to cast a vote in these elections and local government in Belgium is small but mighty - the politicians running your municipality have a big impact on your daily life.

All EU citizens resident in Belgium have the right to vote in the municipal elections, as do non-EU citizens who have been resident here at least five years; In many cosmopolitan Brussels-Capital districts the international voters could have a huge impact – so long as they sign up and vote!

The webinar will address issues including:

• The place of International Brusselers in local democracy
• Reasons you should vote
• How to sign up
• How to use your proxy vote if you cannot attend in person
• Any questions

Registration

This webinar is free to access, but you need to register before Friday 24 May by emailing: inscription@commissioner.brussels.

The webinar will be moderated by Amélie Bovy, Senior legal advisor at the Expat Welcome Desk and the speakers will be Thomas Huddleston, International expert on citizenship and diversity, and Bryn Watkins, Project and Communications Manager, commissioner.brussels.

English Comedy Brussels combines the best of British sitcom with fine cuisine in its Fawlty Towers dining experience. Fawlty Towers is possibly Britain’s favourite sitcom. A first in Belgium, this themed evening stars John Cleese impersonator Ed Wells, who boasts the lofty stature to mimic the celebrated comic actor. Basil is joined of course by Manuel and Sybil to complete the Fawlty Towers team. The fabulous Barsey boutique hotel and restaurant on Avenue Louise serves as the Brussels location for Torquay’s most notorious guesthouse on Friday 24 May 2024.

The fun starts from 19h00 with six foot, seven inch Ed Wells, exactly the same height as Mr Cleese himself, walking the walk and talking the talk as he leads his team on Gourmet Night to deliver an unforgettable culinary experience.

Unlike the TV show's own Gourmet Night, Chef Nicholas Tsiknakos (Golden chef cap award, Greece 2008; Swiss Culinary cup winner 2005) won’t have ‘potted the shrimps, soused the herrings, pickled the onions or smashed the eggs in his pot under the table’, but will prepare a delicious three course dinner for your enjoyment (see menu below).

For more information and to book your tickets click here. The ticket price includes an apéritif & a three course gourmet dinner. Other drinks to be paid separately.

The menu

Starter

Goat cheese ravioli, truffle and pine nut sauce, crunchy arugula

Or

Beef Carpaccio, Parmesan espuma and mesclun Salad

Main course

Grilled “Coucou de Malines”, whole-grain mustard sauce, potato mousseline, and caramelised vegetables

Or

Sea bass fillets, risotto of cima di rapa and saffron sauce

Dessert

"Pomme vert"

The Bridge Theatre company has a new production in English coming up in June. The play is ‘Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune’ by Terrence McNally and directed by Robert Chevara. This tender and touching comedy follows two lonely souls who meet for a night of fiery passion but stumble upon the chance of finding a true connection.

The play stars Debra Baker (Supacell onNetflix and It's a Sin on Channel 4) and Alan Turkington (Dead Hot on Amazon and Heartstopper on Netflix).

The production will run from 6 to 22 June 2024 at RESET, rue du Ligne 8, 1000 Brussels. The performance contains strong language, sexual intimacy, and nudity and is, therefore, recommend for those aged 16 and over.

Some performances also include a Post-Show Talk and Q&A with a Special Guest (30-45 minutes). Check dates on the booking page for details.

There is also a group discount for bookings with 15% off for groups of 10 people or more.

Find out more at The Bridge Brussels website. 

This Wednesday evening (15 May) our friends at the Arts Society Brussels will be investigating the aesthetics of athletics with writer and historian Simon Inglis. The venue is Woluwe St. Lambert town hall at 2 avenue Paul Hymans, 1200 Brussels and the event starts at 19h30

The start of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris is drawing close. But Simon will talk about everything except sport! He will concentrate on the heritage, art, architecture, and design of the Olympics.

Whilst most onlookers will focus on sport, art and design also play a part in the Olympics, as they have since the games began at Olympia nearly three thousand years ago. Greek art is replete with representations of athletes on vases, plates and bronzes. Every four years modern day hosts unveil dazzling new architecture, in the form of stadia, arenas, velodromes and swimming pools. The athletes themselves act as torch bearers for ever changing ideals of physical perfection. From nudity to Nike, from sand to synthetics, the Olympic story offers art lovers pure gold.

Writer and historian Simon Inglis specialises in the architecture and heritage of sport and recreation. Since 2004 he has edited the Played in Britain series for English Heritage. Although sport and recreation might seem an unlikely subject for The Arts Society, non-sporty types need have no fear. Simon’s themes are architecture, design, heritage and popular culture.

More information here.

Cornish pasties are the iconic delicacy famously fashioned by those true Brits that live to the west of the River Tamar in the UK. Possibly one of the most famous foods to come out of the south of England, the Cornish have understandable pride in this tasty hand-held ‘all-in-one’ meal.

Now, thanks to a dedicated BBCA team of pasty producers led by BBCA committee member Simon Pascoe (a true son of Kernow), Pascoe’s Perfect Pasties will be on offer at our Stonemanor BBCA event on 12 May at the Stonemanor Everberg store.

Just 120 pasties have been hand crafted by the team over two days of intense effort.

The first day saw the pasty team make and portion the buttery pastry.

While day two was pasty production day with the preparation of the mix of tender peppery chunks of beef and melt-in-your-mouth vegetables, all wrapped and crimped within the pastry crust. The results have been officially described as “’andsome”.

Huge thanks to Simon for the ins’pie’ration and the BBCA committee volunteers who gave of their time and ‘elbow grease’ to produce the pasties.

Simons said: “It was a great team effort to get the 120 pasties done! And I’d like to also thank Jason from the Expatriate Bistro for the loan of his kitchen, Ryan at Stonemanor, and, of course, Julia at Wesley’s Irish Butchers in town for the generous donation of prime beef.”

We are anticipating a good crowd for the Stonemanor event on 12 May. But if you want to sample one of Pascoe’s Perfect Pasties – you better not get there too late: there are just 120 of these delicacies and when they are gone, they are gone! Cheers!

Pasties past

The Cornish pasty goes back hundreds of years, but they’re most commonly known to have been a staple food of the working classes going back to the 1700s. Cornish tin miners used to take the pasties into the mines for a nutritious meal that would keep them going all day.

The specific shape of the pasty was developed for a practical reason. The crimped crust on the side allowed the grubby miner to grasp the pasty. Levels of toxic arsenic in the tin mines meant that the miners needed to avoid ingesting any dirt. The crimp meant the miner could hold onto the crust, eat their pasty, and then discard the crimp.

Of course, today, we can eat the crimp too!

As noted in previous posts there are a lot of elections happening in 2024 – and long-term UK expats have had the vote returned to them. Some news updates on voting at home and away have recently come in.

Resources for UK voters

The UK Embassy in Belgium has issued a briefing on British citizens overseas and how they can vote in UK parliamentary elections.

As we reported earlier new legislation is now in force which means that since 16 January, British citizens can now register to vote in UK Parliamentary elections, no matter how long ago they left the UK. This right to vote includes UK Parliament general elections, by-elections and recall petitions. Previously, only British citizens who had been registered in the UK within the past 15 years were eligible to vote.

This is a key Government policy which changes the franchise for British citizens overseas and is an important part of upholding democracy.

The body leading on communicating this change is the UK’s Electoral Commission. They have developed a variety of information resources that can be found here: Overseas voting: resources for British citizens overseas | Electoral Commission

Expat voting in Brussels to become easier?

The Brussels parliament has recently adopted a non-binding resolution that will make it easier for non-Belgians, who make up a third of the population in the Brussels region, to participate in local elections.

The resolution would allow expats to be automatically registered to vote at the same time as they register at their commune for the first time. The resolution would include harmonisation of information provided about elections, which currently differs between communes, monitoring of participation in elections, and retrospectively contacting those who don’t vote. The resolution also calls for expats to be allowed to vote in regional, not just local, elections.

Here is an explainer from our friends at Restless Brussels. However, the resolution is non-binding, and would have to be enacted by the new Brussels regional government following the elections this year.

On the evening of Tuesday 21 May 2024, the Community Health Service (CHS) is organising a talk on ‘Mental health in Adolescents’ with Bertha Figueras, Clinical Psychologist and Head of the Children and Young People’s team at CHS Brussels.

Bertha will share her experience and perspectives on confronting the challenges, as well as appreciating the joys of raising teenagers in the context of today’s world.

The talk (details below) will take place at 21-23 avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels and be be followed by a Q&A session. The talk will start at 18h00.

Registration is via this online form.

For more information on this and other CHS services and activities visit their website.

On Monday 13 May the International Study Group will be investigating the importance of female artists in the Surrealist movement in a talk in English by Isabel Vermote, art historian at the Bozar.

The Surrealist movement is often associated with male artists such as Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, and Rene Magritte. However, female artists such as Leonora Carrington and Jane Graverol, played a crucial role in shaping the development of Surrealism, both as artists and muses. They visualised the female psyche as it had not been seen before and opened a  new dialogue that gradually transformed the relationship between the genders.

The illustration above is ‘A Candle of Understanding in Thine Heart’ painted by Marion Adnams in 1964.

Where and when

The talk ‘More than Muses: The Importance of Female Artists in the Surrealist Movement’ will take place on Monday, 13 May 2024 with a welcome coffee from 10h00 and the talk staring at 10h30. The venue is Château Malou, Allée Pierre Levie 2, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and free parking is available around the Chateau and public transport is close by. The talk is free to ISG members. Guests and non-members should pay €10 on entry.

For more information visit: https://isgbrussels.be/ or email  info@isgbrussels.be

On Saturday 8 June from 14h00 to 17h00 a Garden Party is being held just outside Brussels, in Rhode-St-Genèse, as a fundraiser the Songani Hope and Wellness Centre in Malawi that offers testing and counselling for HIV patients. The Centre is run by the UK-based charity Mbedza and needs ongoing support.

The Garden Party will take place at the residence of the Malawian Ambassador to Belgium and the EU, Dr Naomi Ngwira, and will feature good food, drinks and live music, as well as games for children, whilst supporting a good cause.

More information and tickets for this event can be obtained here. 

If you are unable to attend the party but would like to donate to the charity there is a 'donate' button in the link above. If you would like to donate in euros, please contact the local organisers via Songaniparty@mbedza.org.

The trajectory of Franz Liszt resembles that of a hero from an epic tale that might have been written by his friend Victor Hugo. Both were men who embraced their century as much as they were enveloped by it. And Franz is the subject of the next International Study Group (ISG) talk on Monday 8 April.

After early beginnings as a child prodigy at the Vienna school of Schubert and Beethoven, young Liszt became the greatest piano virtuoso in Paris and, at the same time, one of the first stars in the contemporary sense of the term, combining success and scandal, celebrity, tumultuous loves, and incredible friendships. After an international tour of nearly eight years, he changed his life and transformed into a conductor, theatre director, promoter of the avant-garde, and composer of great symphonic works. He simultaneously developed a profoundly original aesthetic way of thinking about music.

Finally, propelled by his deep Catholic faith, he drew closer to the Pope, received minor orders, and composed masterpieces for the organ and religious music, while never forgetting to be a beloved professor recognized by his numerous students for his unwavering generosity. These are the main facets of this exceptional man, whom chance has made a genius, whose portrait will be painted in words, images, and music during this talk.

Our guide to Liszt’s life will be Hugo Rodriguez, the curator of the library of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He has previously worked at the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR) and the Museum of Musical Instruments (MIM). He holds a doctorate in musicology from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, where he teaches.

Where and when

The talk will take place on Monday, 8 April 2024 with a welcome coffee from 10h00 and the talk starting at 10h30. The venue is Château Malou, Allée Pierre Levie 2, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and free parking is available around the Chateau. Public transport is also close by: Tram 8, stop Voot; Bus 28, stop Deportés or Parc Malou (easier). The talk is free to ISG members. Guests and non-members should pay €10 on entry.

For more information visit: https://isgbrussels.be/